You rarely ever get the chance to know how much your life revolves around the internet, until it is not there? Unfortunately I was exposed to this tragic event. For most of yesterday, my internet was down; however, you can’t let that stop you from moving forward. Here are somethings I did to help make this bad time into a learning experience.

What is the Internet Good For

Here are just a few of the things I need to use the internet for throughout the day:

• I use Vonage for my phone service. When the internet is down, so goes the phone, although there is always a cell phone.
• The obvious email. I have all my accounts funneled into Gmail, with the most important one synced with my phone; however, minus the simple reply emails, everything else is a chalkboard scratching task for an impatient person like myself.
• Trading. Without this, I can’t make money or could perhaps lose it if I held positions.
• Website. Basically no way to let you guys know whats going on.

Things just Out of Your Hand

Out of all the things that are done through the internet, there are just some that you really can’t do without:

• Trading. Maybe you can call in your order (never tried to or wanted to do it), but other than that there is really nothing else you can do.
• Phone. With my Vonage not able to work, I must use the cell phone; however, sometimes that can prove to be a pain with the coverage in my area.

Reverting Back in Time to The Simple Days

In order to fulfill the tasks without the internet, we must trigger the past. The internet wasn’t always so accessible. What did the people do back then?

Print Media

Remember those things called print sources, such as a magazine or newspaper. Well, it may just be time to open one up again. With up to the minute news being so readily available, it has left these print sources to seem somewhat outdated. No more, can they really be the first with breaking news, and they know this. So now they have tried to bring more lasting, relevant stories.

If you dont subscribe to any of these, they can easily be found at your local bookstore; however, you can probably get free wireless there too.

Television

Let CNBC or your news channel of choice run on in the background. Even if they aren’t covering your exact stocks, at least you know whats going on in the markets.

Organize

Worse comes to worse and you have nothing else to do, then organize. Whether it be creating a new system or re-framing the old one, take this time to get everything you need back in order. Create a detailed list of all the things that need to be done, once the internet comes back on.

Final Thoughts

I like to compare not having access to internet like being a bench player. At any time you could be called in the game and you are expected to be ready to play, so why can’t the same be said of the internet? At any time the internet could be back up and you should be ready to jump right back into the mix of things.

So next time the internet goes down don’t take it has a time to catch up on sleep or do nothing. Stay prepared and focused because the internet just might throw you in the game.

image source - snap-it.org